Battling Beauties

Just over two years ago, I was looking for part time work to make a little extra money and to break the monotony of the daily grind. What I ended up with was far better then what I had expected. A friend had a side job as a ring announcer for a sports entertainment company, and their main focus was women’s wrestling and mixed martial arts. At that time they were looking for someone who could run the sound and lighting equipment. This is something I’ve never done before, but being that I have a technical background, I was willing to give it a try. So I went down and was introduced to the owner who showed me the equipment and how to use it. We spoke for awhile and he agreed to give me a try.

When the next shoot came, I showed up for work with full expectations of working the sound and lighting board, but what happened was a little different. The ring side cameraman had been in a car accident and hurt his arm and wasn’t able to hold the camera due to the pain. I was given the camera and a few minutes of instruction, and off I went. I must have done a decent enough job because just over two years later, I’m still running the ring side camera.

Recently we moved into a new studio with all new equipment. Now everything we do is in high definition. Before I use to use a camera that I had to hold steady in my hand while at the same time capturing the “moving targets” in the ring. By the end of the day, and many of those days were 12 hours in length, my arm and back were killing me! Now, I have a shoulder mounted camera that I use. Again, another 12 hour day, but this time my arm and back were fine…but my legs were killing me! Still, this camera is much more comfortable to use and gives a far greater picture quality.

Going back to the day job in my dingy little cubicle is difficult after a weekend of filming, but I do enjoy showing off some photos of my wrestling co-workers to my office buddies. While they spend their weekends playing World of Warcraft and changing diapers, I get to spend time with models, professional athletes, and actresses. The one thing I did realize is that despite how beautiful and famous some of these girls are, they are just like everyone else. They have their daily routines that they’ve grown accustomed to, they have their families that wonder if they’ll do anything good with their lives, and some of them even have husbands and children that they go home to afterwards. They really are no different than anyone else. And of course at the end of the day…


…it’s only a job.